1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved vehicle greenhouse head injury reduction system assembly which serves to mitigate impact to minimize the risk of injuries to a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision and to an associated method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years a great deal of attention has been directed toward the critical need to minimize injury to occupants of a vehicle in the case of a collision. Cars have been made safer through the use of safety devices, such as seat belts and inflatable restraints, such as airbags. Also, the automobile manufacturers have directed attention toward making the car body and components more energy absorbent in the event of a collision. The United States government has established the Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in order to mandate certain minimum safety requirements.
An area that has received increasing attention in recent years is the desire to minimize damage to a vehicle occupant's head in the event of a collision. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS-201) contains head injury criteria. These standards are proposed to be amended to include a section on head injuries caused by impact with the greenhouse.
The greenhouse of the vehicle includes regions of the vehicle interior which are most likely to be contacted by an occupant's head, particularly in a collision which involves impact from the side. Examples of such portions of the vehicle are support pillars, such as those that appear on (a) opposite sides of the windshields, (b) between the vehicle doors, (c) between the rear window and the side portion of the car, as well as the headers which overly the windshield and rear window, and the rails which overly the doors. U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,275 discloses the use of rigid polyurethane foam in vehicle doors as energy absorbing means. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,066 which discloses the use of a honeycomb energy absorbing material in a vehicle door.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,172 which discloses the use of a corrugated tube for resisting axially applied loads has the obvious disadvantage of not having meaningful resistance to loads applied perpendicular to the axial direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,051 discloses the use of mechanical airbags without the use of pressurized air as a means of absorbing energy. This system has limited energy absorbing capacity.
It has been known to suggest the use of a one-piece energy absorbing bracket with a "buckling portion" designed to undergo deformation when subjected to impact transmitted through the molding. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,730. Such a system occupies excessive interior space.
Despite the foregoing prior art constructions, there remains a very real and substantial need for improved head impact energy absorbing systems that use minimum space in the automotive vehicle greenhouses so as to minimize injury to occupants in a collision and, particularly, minimize head injuries.